On May 3, 1990, the Board of Trustees at Mills College voted to admit men for the first time in the institution's 138-year history. The announcement was the catalyst for a student strike that resonated with women across the country. Sixteen days later, the Board of Trustees changed its mind.

Twenty years ago this May, the women of Mills took a stand for women's education, staging a 16-day protest on the cusp of graduation. Their bold mantra—better dead than coed—reverberated through women's colleges nationwide, engendered international media coverage, and served as a turning point in the debate over the future and importance of women-focused education.

Two decades have passed, but the impassioned pleas of the Mills community, as it rallied and formed a collective voice in support of women's education, still echo in the minds of those who witnessed and participated in the infamous 1990 strike. Here are stories from Mills alumnae/i who were part of this historic moment.

Giulietta Aquino '93

For a high school junior who practically nixed Mills College from her college choice list after realizing it was a women's institution, Giulietta Aquino '93 has come a long way. Not only did she matriculate at Mills after an energizing visit to campus during her senior year of high school, but she also was an avid supporter of the student strike. "I saw Mills as a place where students paid attention to issues and sought diverse opinions," she says. "Going to Mills was a transcendent experience."

Twenty years later, she recalls her bold participation in the 1990 strike as a first-year student, taking a stand on the frontlines of the blockade and sleeping outside an administrative building. The events surrounding those tumultuous days made such an impact on Giulietta that she has committed her career to women-focused education ever since, working to help develop the next generation of female leaders. Today, she serves as the dean of undergraduate admission for the College, a position she has held since 2006. Read more »

Robyn Fisher '90

Robyn Fisher '90 was destined to go to Mills College. When she was five years old, her mother—a single parent—enrolled at Mills, and the two lived on campus. Robyn has not only chosen a path in education ever since, but has dedicated her life to work in leadership and social justice—hallmarks of a Mills education.

"I saw Mills as a school that respected women and education," Robyn says. "It invited my mother to attend Mills and live on campus despite her race and the fact she had a child." A Class of 1976 graduate and a lifelong educator, Robyn's mother inspired her to found R.T. Fisher Educational Enterprises, an educational and public outreach consulting firm that designs and implements programs to enhance student learning from preschool through college. Read more »

Calia Brencsons-Van Dyk '90

Twenty years since graduating from Mills College, Calia Brencsons-Van Dyk '90 reflects on her time at Mills, particularly the 1990 strike, and says her experience has empowered her to find her strengths and become a leader in her field.

Calia personifies the strong women emerging from Mills who have taken their experiences and translated them into success. Although she did not spend all four of her undergraduate years at Mills, her experience—especially the solidarity of the strike and a number of female mentors—left a strong imprint on her life. Today, she serves as production manager for The Martha Stewart Show and Whatever, Martha, a satirical weekly cable show, for which she is responsible for "everything that goes on backstage." Martha Stewart is also the product of a women's college—Barnard College in New York. Read more »

Deborah Watson '91

Deborah Watson '91, just one among more than 20,000 Mills College alumnae, sets an example for graduates of women's colleges who pursue careers in the natural sciences—a traditionally male-dominated field. Studies show that graduates of women's colleges are more than twice as likely as graduates of coed colleges to receive doctorates, especially in the natural sciences, and enter medical school.

During the 1990 strike, Deborah served on the committee appointed to study options to keep Mills a women's institution, and she was—and still is—an advocate for women's education. After graduating with honors from Mills with a BS in chemistry, Deborah earned a PhD in neurobiology from Harvard University in 1997 and served as a postdoctoral fellow in neuroscience at the Children's Hospital of Philadelphia for five years. She is now research assistant professor of neurosurgery at the University of Pennsylvania, where she is examining the potential of the brain to repair and regenerate the cells and connections after injury. Read more »

Ananya Roy '92

As a recognized leader in and out of the classroom, Ananya Roy's eloquence, thoughtful intelligence, and inquisitive nature instantly create a setting for open discussion and an exchange of ideas. It's no wonder she was an integral figure in facilitating negotiations between student activists and administration officials on the UC Berkeley campus last fall.

Born in Calcutta, India, Ananya Roy was raised by parents who believed in the importance of developing independent thought. Because of that upbringing, she found her voice at a very young age and in a country where women were not necessarily encouraged to do so. In pursuit of her desire to study and explore global economic, social, and gender issues, Ananya set her sights on attending college in the United States. Accepted to three prestigious all-women's colleges, each offering the same scholarship opportunities, she chose Mills College. Read more »

Ray Beldner '89

Ray Beldner '89 can't tell you what it's like to be a woman at an all-female institution, but he can describe his experience as a male graduate student at Mills College, particularly during the 1990 strike.

Although he had graduated the previous year, Ray still spent a lot of time on campus and recalls that he felt shocked and outraged that a nurturing place like Mills was about to change. Although the graduate programs at Mills were coed, Ray relished the female temperament and social sensibilities that permeated the campus. A graduate of the MFA program in studio art, he certainly wasn't short on female muses for his work. Read more »